Norway is introducing a total ban on fur farming, according to a statement released by the Norwegian animal rights organisation NOAH this weekend. The country is currently home to 300 fur farms, which breed and kill 700,000 minks and 110,000 foxes every year, so this is truly a massive victory for animals.

An exposé released by PETA UK in 2014 documented horrific conditions on fur farms in Norway and several other countries and featured footage captured by Norwegian groups Dyrebeskyttelsen Norge and Nettverk for Dyrs Frihet. The video shows animals suffering from starvation, thirst, and untreated, bloody wounds. Many on these farms go insane as a result of their confinement, and some are driven to self-mutilation and cannibalism. Dead animals are left to rot, often among their desperate cagemates. At the end of this ordeal, the animals are killed, typically in gruesome ways including anal or vaginal electrocution.

Animal rights activists in Norway have been campaigning for a ban for years. In 2016, NOAH organised Europe’s largest-ever anti-fur protest, during which more than 13,000 people marched through the streets of Oslo and other Norwegian cities.

Although the full details of Norway’s ban have yet to be finalised, all fur farms in the country will reportedly be required to shut down by 2025.

What You Can Do

We still have more work to do, including fur issues closer to home. Professing her support for animal rights, New Zealand fashion designer Annah Stretton continues to use fur in her collections and even posed for a photo shoot on a bearskin rug.